AUTOMATIC Identification System data manipulation is evolving rapidly, with the latest trend being shadow fleet* tankers tinkering with their data to appear stateless while sailing.

Lloyd’s List has identified seven tankers since June that have changed their Maritime Mobile Service Identity numbers to include Maritime Identification Digits that have not been allocated to any country.

An MMSI is a unique nine-digit number assigned to a vessel by a flag registry for identifying and communicating via radio and AIS.

The International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency, has an online database which shows which MID — the first three numbers of the MMSI — are assigned to which country.

It is therefore possible to understand where a ship is claiming to be flagged by reviewing the MMSI number, and in particular the MID.

For example, a vessel transmitting an MMSI that begins with ‘247’ is understood to be flagged with Italy, while a ‘261’ prefix would suggest Poland.

The MID being used by sanctioned vessels is ‘646’, which is unallocated.

One of the ships, product tanker Symphony (IMO: 9309588), starts to transmit the stateless MMSI numbers in June.

The vessel uses two different entirely fake IMO numbers when transmitting messages using the fake MMSI numbers.

Symphony is most likely using at least two different AIS systems given it simultaneously is transmitting messages using its assigned IMO number and a MMSI affiliated with Comoros.

IR Consilium chief executive Ian Ralby said the use of MMSIs with no country link was a known tactic studied among criminals, but not well understood amongst the people trying to stop these activities.

“This strikes me as a conscious tactic to evade sanctions,” Ralby said.

“There’s a lot of playing to the legal uncertainty around sanctions enforcement, as well as to the legal uncertainty around how to handle vessels without nationality or vessels with confusing or confounding flag registration or identification status.”

Another vessel using a ‘646’ MMSI is suezmax Swiftsea Rider (IMO: 9318539), which was sanctioned by the EU in February, after being designated by the UK in December.

Swiftsea Rider uses this MMSI number intermittently throughout July while sailing through the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara.

Around this time the vessel also starts using an MMSI suggesting it is flagged with Sudan.

It is not clear if the MMSI relating to Sudan has been legitimately assigned.

Fake ship registers are a booming business, which is supporting shadow fleet operations and enabling extreme flag hopping practices.

* Lloyd’s List defines a tanker as being part of the Shadow Fleet if it engages in one or more deceptive shipping practices indicating that it is involved in the facilitation of sanctioned oil cargoes from Iran, Russia or Venezuela. Or it is sanctioned for participation in sanctioned oil trades or is sanctioned for links to a company that is sanctioned for facilitating the export of sanctioned oil.